turkey day week

been nice to actually get out this week on the road as the trainer was starting to drive me nutty already.

next up, murrysville cross this sunday - looking to be a pretty fast race already, lots of schwag and some of the speedgoat crew are coming out to rally on the speedgoat troops through the 1 hour battle.

knee is coming around, it's still a little tender so i haven't been doing any major efforts on it all week. 4 more races, then that's it for 2008 - 2009 will not be that far away.

2009 schedule is still all tentative, hoping to get to the majority of them by car as to some cashola on shipping bikes/etc. bikes will be rolling in soon, along with a slightly re-vamped 'ernesto/speedgoat kit'. the speedgoat crew loved the colors of my kits, so most of the team/shop guys will be rolling in green kits next year.

that's it, going to sneak in a ride, eat some turkey, drink some brews, try to find a wii on-line and relax. i don't get too many days like this.

rock out - sologoat

sologoat crankskin bottlewrap

crankskin_bottlewrap
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

will be posting more on their stuff once i get a chance - but here is a shot of the super limited edition sologoat bottle wrap.

drop ej at crankskin.com an email if interested in these botttlewraps or his crank, fork and frame covers. some pretty nice options out there to save your paint.

sologoat out

whats a girl to do

by the band bats for lashes - found off a facebook post. way too freaky cool to not post.

sologoat out

state cross champs

i'll keep it brief as i am pretty bummed out about it...

first laps went well, just as i was catching onto the main group i got chopped and taken down. levers turned, i got back trying to salvage what i could.

3 or 4 laps later, i wash myself out super hard whacking my right knee about as hard as one possibly could right into my bars - so hard i nearly puked right there. barely able to limp off the course, i laid down for about 4 minutes before i could actually stand on it.

i bagged it at that point - was so far back that i wasn't going to catch on and with nationals a few weeks out it seemed kind of silly to keep pedaling just to finish and then end up doing more damage then good.

card ended up taking the win - he looked super strong. gerry came in 4th after winning his masters race earlier in the day.

so today i am taking the day off and trying to keep off the knee.

next up - freddie fu/speedgoat cross race this sunday in the 'burgh.

sologoat out

read all about it

read_all_about_it
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

photo from the local paper in NC where the oktoberfest race was at - thanks to race organizer taylor for sending it out.

full cover, showing the I9's off.

gots to pack - ohio state cross champs tomorrow and i have about 10 different tire selections and 3 bikes to pick from.

sologoat out

The aftermath

The aftermath
Originally uploaded by Huang Family

pics from last weeks aftermath.

i have a feeling sunday is going to see the same conditions.

gotta pack - sologoat out

everything in its right place

listening to a live radiohead broadcast on the trainer yesterday and this song came up and kind of sums up the year.

everything in its right place - phrase alone sums up what you need to do to get through your season, your racing goals, etc, etc.

with the end of the year coming up, few more races coming up...

ohio state cross - coming up this weekend and i am obsessing about parts, setup, etc, etc. should get a good start position as they are doing call ups for the cleveland series.

murrsyville cross - put on by speedgoat sponsored freddie fu team. should be a good showing of speedgoat sponsored riders near the 'burgh. (go steelers!)

cleveland cross - last of the series race, at boughton farm. this course has somehow cursed me into having bad races. this time i am hoping to get that monkey off my back. should wrap up the overall in at least the top 3.

cross nats - masters and the elite race. in the masters race, i am ligning up in the 3rd row, right on the outside. about 150 guys are behind me. that should be good.

elite - about 150 are going to be in front of me. i registered early, but will be behind everybody who has points. will be a crap shoot, hopefully make up some spots quickly before it gets too strung out. fighting to stay on the lead lap will be a challenge. by far probably the race i most look forward to all year. pain, screaming fans, fun course...

should be loads of fun at cross nats - and i will be heading out with my dad and it's his first time ever seeing the spectacle.

sologoat out

ohio state cross FYI

next up - ohio state cross race this weekend.

just a word out to my fellow ohio riders - if you are going down, may want to register as they will ding you another $10 if you don't pre-register... last day to pre-register is tomorrow dawg, so get on it.

gots to roll.

sologoat out

speedgoat one two

cleveland cross - Broadview Heights 01
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

a speedgoat one two went down at broadview today, gerry took first, i rolled in second.

condtions were cruddy - 33 degrees, snow blowing around, wetness and mud all around.

gun went off and 5 guys were duking it out for first place by the backside of the course - gerry, myself, tony, zak and brett.

soon, gerry myself and tony were away - and tony was catching me. seemed to be not finding my groove to well and tony soon caught me and opened up a gap.

half way point of any cross race is at 45 minutes - tony cracked and flatted around the same time. when he switched bikes, i caught him and he would finish in 3rd.

tough race - more mentally then physically. conditions were bad and it's just a thing of riding through it.

hats off to tony today - think it's the best finish for him in the "a" group to date and he rode really well.

sologoat out

2009 sologoat frame is..

the pivot 429 will be the frames i will be riding next year - colors, parts, etc are not 150% nailed down at this point, but will more then likely be similar to years past.

thanks to jim at speedgoat and chris at pivot - without sponsors like these guys, working and racing full time would be an impossibility.

thanks for keeping me rolling in 2009.

sologoat out

winter bike build up

100_2606
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

new stuff:
- 2008 niner emd (still some left at speedgoat- light frames!)
- white brothers carbon fork
- xt front derailleur
- titec 3 degree bar
- salsa seat collar

old stuff from my santa cruz frames
- xt crank/bb
- nokon cables
- sram half pipe shifters/sram rear derailleur
- thompson stem
- king headset

old stuff from my asylums:
- easton e90 carbon post
- san marco ti saddle
- avid mechanicals - from the very first asylum ever
- crank brothers pedals

off my salsa mariachi:
- xt wheelset
- sram rear cassette
- king stainless cages

should be considerably lighter then any other winter bike i've had to date.

mechanical brakes chosen to save me (or should i say dan) the effort and time into getting brakes setup. i actually prefer my mountain training bikes to be fully rigid as it saves a little cash/maintenance in the end and i think it adds a little bit extra skill training to each ride with no shock to soak up bad lines.

and - no - niner is not the 2009 frame sponsor. keep guessing.

sologoat out

sologoat garage updates

the Sologoat Garage is now updated with a few items. any interest in items, put a comment on the post with your email.

this weekend, off from racing - full throttle on the house projects as i try to get caught up with them before winter hits.

got some sponsorship news coming up, gonna make you guys wait it out a few more days as i try to get old parts sold for 2009 racing fundage.

also, need to get together the new winter bike - looking pretty sweet in all black and few old retro parts off my old race bikes.

that's it - gotta roll.

sologoat out

linn run ride

speedgoat_ride
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

ah - my favorite climb in the speedgoat area... this week, not much going on other then getting in some training, cleaning up the basement bike mess, some house work and figuring out what i need and don't need (part-wise) to get me through the start of the 2009 season.

first to go was one of my el mariachi's - that was yesterday. other one will be parted out and sold as a frame/fork/stem/headset possibly to go over to a salsa selma build up next year. figured out that the mariachi frames geometry did not work out to well for my fits and that i am used to more race specific geometry.

so - got a 2008 niner emd to replace it as my winter trainer. nice, light, race specific geometry. pics up later this weekend, but bike looks hella stealthy all in black and carbon. thanks to dan the man for frame prep.

that's it - gotta do the work thing.

sologoat out

speedgoat one two

DSC_0206.JPG
Originally uploaded by inquintessence

a potential speedgoat one two with ernesto and gerry was formed with a group containing us and paul martin in the very opening of todays cleveland cross race.

that one two finished was sent ablaze when we were skooled by paul martin on the last lap.

course was awesome. lot of twists and turns, three run ups - great for riders like myself and gerry who relish on the techy areas and hope we have the watts to out power riders like paul.

gun went off, we were immediately in a group with the 3 of us. we rode together for all the laps and i had the notion that we would pull off the win as gerry was killing it with the power on the flats and on the re-mounts. he only fumbled once the whole time.

one lap to go, paul made his move and came around me - a minute later he attacked gerry and a gap opened between all us. i washed out soon after and that was that - 3rd overall, 2nd in the class.

great race - had fun duking it out with paul and gerry -

sologoat out

hola!

about 200 pics uploaded to flickr from brett's chagrin valley cross race - dead legs, 2 beer hand ups and a 5th place. good times.

gotta run - next race up in a 3 hours and counting...

sologoat out

cleveland cross weekend

DSC_0689.JPG
Originally uploaded by inquintessence

will be served in just a few hours now, need to get out the door...

rest of the season will be spent maintaining my fitness, hitting up cross races until mid december and trying to figure out how to get my house projects done before winter.

another part of the winter clean up project will be clearing out some of my stash of bike parts (stay tuned) so i have room for some new additions next year.

gotta run - off the brett's halloween cross race. feeling kind of lame i didn't get my act together for a costume but at least i'm getting out there to support his race. (all profit today will go towards the cleveland velodrome project)

sologoat out